Insta360 :: First impressions

by Volker Weber

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Weezeeh. This is fun. I never knew what do with 360 degree panoramas. But it turns out you just need the right (inexpensive) tech. Enter the Insta360. This is the same photo, just rendered in a different way.

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The Insta360 comes in a box, which doubles as a VR viewer. Any content, from the camera or from Youtube for instance, that is encoded as 360 VR can be viewed. Call up the split screen view, place the iPhone in the box and you are ready to go.

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The camera is rather simple. Wipe down the two lenses with the bag it comes in, and then plug it into your iPhone with this Lighting plug.

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Downside: this is a tight fit. You cannot have a case around your iPhone. For the first time ever, my iPhone 7 Plus is going commando. Wish me luck that I don't drop it. Insta360 automatically launches its app, and if it isn't installed already, it offers to install it.

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Since the camera is plugged into the bottom, the UI of the app is upside down. You get a view finder, you can shoot video or photos, and the app will stitch it together, live, while you are watching. What you see above is Tiny Planet. The app can also render as Fish-Eye and Panorama.

Do you want to see the full Tiny Planet for photo above? You can find it right here. Look in the upper righthand corner. There are many view options.

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The camera has its own battery. So you have to charge it. And you can insert your own 64 GB microSD to store photos when not connected to an iPhone.

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There is a shutter button. Press it once for a photo. Press it twice for a video. And press it three times for either a time-lapse or a timed photo. For those two you would need the stand, that is not included.

Editor-refuses-to-give-it-back award. Big time. This will be fun. Weezeeh. Watch this video review.

Comments

This is amazing, thanks for sharing.
Now I regret I have sold my 7+.

Horia Stanescu, 2017-02-22

Horia, I have an idea. Buy an iPhone. And then keep it.

Volker Weber, 2017-02-22

I've had the Ricoh Theta S as gift, sold it after not using it.

Here a comparison between the two.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EBe6Qh7FszQ


Frank van Rijt, 2017-02-22

I still have my Ricoh Theta S and I use it on every vacation. People are always surprised, fascinated and delighted when I show them a picture. The picture quality could be better though. And I am not interested in taking videos.

Daniel Haferkorn, 2017-02-28

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